Foiling Board

ABSTRACT

A foiling board has a foil platform and a foil clamp. The clamp is engaged upon the board by a clamp attachment member. An optional foil roll holder with roll of foil is provided underneath the board. A method of hair dressing on a head has the following steps; clamp a set of foils onto a foiling board; section a portion of hair in a conventional way, and place a front edge of the foiling board with an exposed foil clamped to it under the section of hair; while holding the board to the head, apply conventional hair dressing substance, wrap exposed foil around treated hair; and release exposed foil from clamp.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent application62/138,281 filed Mar. 25, 2015which is hereby incorporated by thisreference as if fully set forth herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to the hair dressing industry; moreparticularly, it relates to a hair foil application board.

BACKGROUND

In the hair color industry, a technique called foil highlighting is usedto create streaks of light and dark colors in the hair. The standardapplication is done by tearing pieces of foil into various lengths,sectioning the hair with a wire tail comb, lifting that small section upaway from the head then by using your other hand, sliding a piece offoil under that hair section and painting hair color onto the hairagainst the foil. The foil is then folded in half trapping that hairstrand sections and keeping them separate from the rest of the hair.This application is then repeated until the entire head is complete.

The problem with this method is that it is difficult to master and istime consuming. The average application time is one, to two hours.Conventionally, a piece of cardboard is used with a piece of foil on itto trap the hair against the board. This does make application a littleeasier on long hair. However, on short hair it is relativelyineffective, is still difficult to master and does not speed the processup. The foils are used one at a time on the cardboard and they have tobe manually placed and the cardboard can slide around on the headcausing the foil to slip, with undesirable results such as falling offor otherwise causing a mess.

Highlighting, lowlighting, and coloring hair with foils is currently atime and labor intensive process that begins before the client entersthe salon. In preparation for a foil highlighting session the artistmust dispense, cut and stack the foils. The foil stack must be placed onan available work surface (backbar/cart/or the like), and for eachhighlight/lowlight/color area the foregoing process is repeated asneeded. Then during the work session the artist must select/grasp foilfrom work surface, position and secure foil to isolate application area,brush on bleach or color or the like, and then fold over the foil tocompletely isolate application area. And this series of steps isrepeated as necessary to complete the artist's job.

DISCLOSURE

One embodiment disclosed is a foiling board that is a Plexiglas or otherplastic board, clear or colored, that may be readily cleaned off andreused. Preferred foiling boards come in varying lengths, andadvantageously an edge of the board is just sharp enough to use forprecutting foil pieces with some precision. A from end of the board isbeveled so that it rests easily on, and grips against, the scalp.Disposed rearwardly from this front end of the tool there is a retainingclip for stacking enough foil pieces under the clip for a complete day'swork without any of the foils falling off while the board is in use.Preferably the clip is adjustable in its front-to-rear positioning toaccommodate the artist's choice of foil length for a particularapplication. It is also desirably adjustable in tension, so that a clipresilience range can selectably be set by the artist to accommodatedifferent thicknesses of foil packs, that is, the range of the number offoils the artist chooses to use. An artist can use a stack of foils orpapers and the clip holds them in place at just the correct tension torelease them one at a time.

This makes using this tool on short or long hair equally facilitated,and the artist may dispense the foils onto the hair one at a time. Thiscuts a significant amount of time from the average one to two hourapplication, down to about 20 minutes with practice, and effectivelyquadruples a hairstylist's potential income per hour.

Another embodiment is made from re-usable plastic or plastic coatedcardboard so that it can be easily cleaned and sanitized. At the head orfront end of the board it is beveled so that it rests easily on thescalp. On the underside of the board is attached a pre-sized full roll.This roll is advantageously slid into a compartment through a cap andslit on one side of the tool. It is held to place with a retaining clipon each side, similar to an upside down adding machine tape, or acompression fitting or a pin, allowing for the foil to roll up overeither the back or the front of the board. Desirably the foil is feed uponto the board through a slit in the board.

If the artist prefers to pull the foil from the back of the board, thefoil is fed to the front beveled edge. The foil is then folded over thefront end by approximately half inch to secure it for application. Ifthe artist prefers to pull the foil from the front, it is simply securedat the back either by a clip or by fingers. The hair is then sectionedconventionally and the front end of board is rested against thecustomers scalp. The back end of the board is rested at the artistabdomen or collar bone, or other body location most comfortable for theartist. The clip or slit across the board at the back works like adispenser as the stylist lifts the foil and folds it.

The tension on the adjustable clip is preferably set by having the clipat in optimal range of degree angles to the head. The board keeps thefoil or paper from falling off.

In one embodiment the dimensions of the board are 110 mm wide×450 mmlong. The compartment (optionally triangular shaped in cross-section)that holds the foil is 50 mm at the edge. A 75 mm diagonal foldre-attaches to the underside of the board, and flaps or caps on eachside conceal the foil roll or self-feeding sheets (stacked and arrangedlike tissues in a tissue dispenser).

The disclosed foiling board and its clip and or foil roll holdingaccessories eliminate much if not all of the conventional prep work,take control of the application area, allow the artist to brush moreaccurately, and above all, save time and improve style end result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A,B,C are top, bottom and side views of an aspect of thedisclosed board.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIGS. 3A,B are schematic views of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIGS. 4A-F are perspective, sectional and exploded views of anotheraspect of the disclosed board.

FIGS. 5A,B are schematic views of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIGS. 6A,B are schematic views of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIG. 9 is a side view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another aspect of the disclosed board.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The disclosed foil board is further described by reference to thedrawing figures.

FIGS. 1A,B,C are top, bottom and side views respectively of oneembodiment of the foiling board. In the top view the elongated foilingboard platform is seen with foil-holding clip or clamp at the left ofthe board as seen. In the bottom view of the board and centered (forthis illustration) on the bottom of the board is a casing for a roll offoil (with roll of foil not illustrated). In the side view, both clipand casing can be seen. In the side view the roll of foil isschematically illustrated inside the casing.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of the foilingboard and clip. The illustrated board has running along its axis aseries of paired, spaced apart holes. Each pair of holes is for matingand engaging with corresponding paired pins on the bottom of the clamp,at the end of the clamp which rests upon the board platform. The cliphas a spring foot section (with pins) and an arcuate armature sectionleading to a foil pressing or clamping section (illustrated here withtwo presser feet), under which the sheets of foil are lightly clampedfor relatively easy slip release of each succeeding foil sheet. Theentire pack of foils (see also FIG. 10) can be released, or a new packinserted, by light pressure on the thumb plate of the clamp, seen at thejuncture of the foot section and armature section at the rear of theclamp.

FIGS. 3A,B are schematic views of alternate aspects of the foil rolldispenser or casing. FIG. 3A shows the casing with side door or panelopen to review the foil roll and roll hanger mechanism. Dotted arrow isthe direction of panel swing to close the casing. Two solid arrows arethe direction the foil is dispensed, up and over the front of the boardto be retained temporarily under the clip. FIG. 3B shows the casingclosed, and optional foil dispensing slit in rear of casing, andoptional serrated teeth for cutting the foil for each foil application.

FIGS. 4A and B show respective top and bottom views of an alternatefoiling board. A simple band-like clip is provided for slidableengagement along the top of the board. The clip having arms that wraparound the edges of the board (see FIG. 4C). The bottom of the board hasroughly U channel rails with openings facing each other (see also FIG.4D) in which the tabs at the bottom right and left of FIG. 4E areslidably engaged. The tabs are on the part of the foil casing thatengages with the bottom of the board. Also in the casing (4E) is thefoil roll and roll holder (see also FIG. 4F).

FIGS. 5A,B are schematic views of an alternate foiling board. Foil isfed from a hanger mechanism or casing (not illustrated) over the back ofthe board, under a clip and along the top of the board to folded justunder the front. An alternate foil roll is loaded with pre-cut foilssuch that dispensing a top foil uncovers and pre-unrolls a next foil.With this arrangement, no foil cutting is required during application.Rolls are available with different pre-cut lengths for different kindsof application (for example, longer or shorter hair).

FIGS. 6A,B are schematic generalized views of the foil board inapplication. The board is placed against the scalp (6A) and the hair islaid over the foil (6B).

FIG. 7 illustrates a sliding lock adjustable tension clip. A lockableclip body holds a sliding clip finger that can be extended or retracted,depending on desired tension. Alternatively, the clip finger is arelatively constant length, and the sliding lock piece is movable in thebody slot to exert differing clip tension in a well know way on the clipfinger.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are respective top and side views of an alternate foilingboard. The clamp is slidable in a longitudinal slot in the board alongor generally parallel to an axis of the board. A tab on the bottom ofthe clamp is engagable in the slot and disengagable via an enlargedsegment of slot width, shown here at the end of the slot. In thisembodiment the clamp and tab are twisted for insertion and removal fromthe board.

FIG. 11 is a shorter version of the foiling board.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural features. It is to beunderstood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specificfeatures shown, since the means and construction shown comprisepreferred forms of putting the invention into effect. The invention is,therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within thelegitimate and valid scope of the appended claims, appropriatelyinterpreted in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.

I claim:
 1. A foiling board comprising a foil platform and foil clamp,the clamp engaged upon the board by a clamp attachment member.
 2. Thefoiling board of claim 1, further comprising the clamp attachment memberbeing slidably engaged upon the foiling board.
 3. The foiling board ofclaim 1, further comprising a foil roll holder, the foil roll holderengaged underneath the board.
 4. The foiling board of claim 3, furthercomprising a roll of foil dispensable from the foil roll holder.
 5. Thefoiling board of claim 1, further comprising a stack of foils releasablyheld to the board by the clamp.
 6. A method of hair dressing on a head,the method comprising the following steps: a) clamp a set of foils ontoa foiling board; b) section a portion of hair in a conventional way, andplace a front edge of the foiling board with an exposed foil clamped toit under the section of hair; c) while holding the board to the head,apply conventional hair dressing substance, wrap exposed foil aroundtreated hair; and d) release exposed foil from clamp.